gUiLLeMoTs : Biography

Guillemots (sometimes written gUiLLeMoTs) is a London-based avant-garde pop and indie rock band, formed in November 2004. They consist of: Fyfe Dangerfield from Birmingham in England (a.k.a. Fyfe Hutchins and formerly a member of Senseless Prayer) on vocals, keyboards and guitar; lead guitarist MC Lord Magrão (formerly of Vazio) from Brazil, who also plays bass and keyboards occasionally; Canadian Aristazabal Hawkes on double bass, electric bass, keyboards and occasionally tambourine; and Scottish percussionist Greig Stewart (who briefly went by the name Rican Caol).

The band released their debut EP, I Saw Such Things in My Sleep EP, in September 2005; all 1000 copies sold out on the day of release. In January 2006, Guillemots were awarded fifth place in the BBC’s Sound of 2006 list of favourite up-and-coming acts.

Their full-length debut LP, Through The Windowpane was released in July 2006, including PlayMade-Up Lovesong #43 from the Such Things EP and other previous singles PlayTrains to Brazil and PlayWe’re Here. The album’s release date was timed so it would be eligible for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize, and the album did make the shortlist.

During the recording sessions for the album, the band recorded an EP entitled Of The Night made up of one song written by each band member. It was released via the internet on Valentine’s Day 2006 and performed live in its entirety at the BBC Electric Proms 2006, with the BBC Concert Orchestra. Their performance of Bad Boyfriend was particularly memorable for the band donning animal masks, and Fyfe crying “Take me to orchestral paradise!” before the song’s orchestral culmination. The EP was eventually released on CD and LP in November, to independent music shops only.